RESOLVED: Battery Cables Melted.

[FilthyEvo]

Was out driving around last night in the snow storm, when suddenly the car completely died. No power at all.

I assumed it had something to do with the battery, so I popped open the trunk (poorly relocated battery from PO), and smoke started billowing out. Terrible smell of melted plastic.

Once the smoke cleared, it was obvious that the battery cables were completely melted - the rubber shielding was actually dripping from the copper wire. On site, I traced the wire up through the interior of the car and it was melted all the way up to the firewall.

Both the ground wire - which was grounded near the rear speakers - and the positive cable, were completely melted.

Little background info on the car; I picked up this car from a kid who only owned it for a few months. He purchased it from another kid who didn't know anything about cars and recieved the car in a trade. The owner before that was the person who did all the work - I've been in touch with him, have seen his build threads and his work was clean. He kept the car in great shape.

So, somewhere along the line of the past two owners, the car was HACKED. A wiring nightmare. Half ass wire tuck, that was attempted to be reversed. So, I've been trying to fix all the gremlins before modding.

Back to the melted wires. Upon searching, it had to of been a short to ground somewhere. Since I was driving in deep snow (8-12" of heavy snow), could snow have built up and pushed some wiring running to the alternator - since it sits so low in the engine bay?

I've also read that the starter solenoid could be stuck, causing the circuit to be open and drawing excessive current?

Would a loose ground, or a wire grounding out anywhere on the chassis cause this? Or would it HAVE to be related to the starter/alternator?

Thanks for the help guys. Going to pick up the car today, and will get started on it tomorrow.

 

[transparentdsm]

where it went through the fire wall was there a grommet there? if not the fire wall rubbed against the power cord until it wore through the plastic sheild and then a positive charge to a body ground burnt up your wire.

 

[FilthyEvo]

Yes, there was a grommet. The wire ran into a loom, on the engine side of the firewall, so hopefully it didn't take out any other wires when it melted.

 

[prove_it]

And this is exactly why you have a fuse as close to the Positive battery terminal as possible. You'll be replacing wires, so do a teardown and locate the short.

 

[EMX5636]

Yea, it's going to suck, but you'll have to trace probably the whole wire front to back. When I did my battery relocation, I ran the power in a channel in the floor. There is one on both sides of the car, but only one was filled with interior/tail light wires. You might as well clean it up now while you have to before it happens again, and takes out the whole car.

 

[FilthyEvo]

Quoting prove_it:
And this is exactly why you have a fuse as close to the Positive battery terminal as possible. You'll be replacing wires, so do a teardown and locate the short.



Haha, I assumed I would be replacing cables when I saw that they were melted from back to front (trunk to engine bay).

Would this have only effected wires relating to the battery - ALT - starter? Or am I going to be looking for random shorts throughout the entire harness?

I will definitely be adding in a fuse when I redo the whole system.

Quote:
Yea, it's going to suck, but you'll have to trace probably the whole wire front to back. When I did my battery relocation, I ran the power in a channel in the floor. There is one on both sides of the car, but only one was filled with interior/tail light wires. You might as well clean it up now while you have to before it happens again, and takes out the whole car.



I plan on redoing the entire battery relocation. When the car died, I pulled up some interior pieces and following the POS cable all the way to the firewall. Luckily it looks like it didn't take out any other wires with it, as far as I could tell on site. It was ran up the passenger side floor channel, and the insulation was COMPLETELY melted off, exposing the copper wire from the POS cable.

So you've heard of this happening before?

Also, when I went to check the ALT fuse, there was no fuse to be found. What does this mean?

 

[FilthyEvo]

Taking a look at this thread; click

It seems to be the same issue. So, if the battery is directly wired to the alternator with NO fuse in line and the alternator were to overcharge the battery, would this cause the cables to fry and melt?

 

[FilthyEvo]

Replaced everything, but now the car won't start.

All fuses appear to be fine.

What would cause a no start after a shorting problem like this? I swapped in another ECU and still won't fire up. The car is completely normal other than the fact that it won't run. Doesn't even try to fire up. Just cranks,

 

[EMX5636]

Try the MPI relay. Do you hear the fuel pump while cranking?

 

[FilthyEvo]

RESOLVED.

Just had to replace the melted cables. The POS ran the cables from the rear to the factory cables up front. He had them meet in the wheel well and the tire rubbed through the insulation.

 

[G]

Quoting FilthyEvo:
Replaced everything, but now the car won't start.

All fuses appear to be fine.

What would cause a no start after a shorting problem like this? I swapped in another ECU and still won't fire up. The car is completely normal other than the fact that it won't run. Doesn't even try to fire up. Just cranks,



"Just had to replace the melted cables." I thought you already did that? Replaced everything.

 

[FilthyEvo]

Forgot to mention that I left the transistor box unplugged, LOL!

Once I plugged that in, all was good!

 

[prove_it]

I once fixed some cables that were run under a car. Not only were they under the car, but the cable ran across the exhaust pipe. Literally they had layed the cable on the ground and just pulled it tight.

Some people should not be allowed to live. Oops meant wrench, or did I?